Megaupload server seizures finally run into mega-due-process

No date is set, but judge orders a hearing to discuss users getting their files back.

When Megaupload's servers were grabbed by the government earlier this year, plenty of non-infringing content was taken along with pirated files. Kyle Goodwin, an Ohio man who makes his living taping high-school sports events, stepped forward to be the poster-boy for users who became "collateral damage" when they lost access to their legitimate files stored on Megaupload.

Now, it looks like Goodwin is going to get his day in court sooner than later, three months after a June ruling by US District judge to defer a decision on whether Megaupload users would get their data back. The judge overseeing the case has decided to hold a hearing to discuss the details on how Goodwin might get his files back. Goodwin's lawyers at EFF said the hearing will cover "where [the data] is, what happened when the government denied him access to it, and whether and how he can get it back."

Goodwin's motion [PDF], filed back in May, makes clear he was after more than just permission to grab his own files. "The government also seized the property of an unknown but significant number of other people along with Mr. Goodwin’s property," wrote Goodwin's lawyers. "If the Court does not act, all of those people also face years of deprivation, if not permanent loss."

Both Goodwin's lawyers and the government are supposed to propose a format for the hearing, which has not yet been scheduled. In the meantime, one of the companies that owns servers with Megaupload content (Carpathia Hosting) created a website, MegaRetrieval.com, which is set up to collect information from customers who may have lost data due to the government seizure.